MDDM Ch. 70 Higher Assembly

[jbor]

Otto wrote:

> There's the implied, omniscient narrator (Pynchon's narrative agency which
> opens the novel) and Wicks, who may introduce other people telling their
> stories (like Armand in Chap. 37, Zhang in Chap. 64, Stig in Chap. 66 and
> others) in his tale to the Le Sparks but it's still the unreliable (and
> maybe just because of this loveable) Wicks-tale in his Sheherazade-like
> efforts to prolong the story.

What about the way Eliza Fields' tale morphs into an episode of 'The Ghastly
Fop' which Ethelmer and 'Brae are reading in her bedroom? No sight of Wicks
there. I think that by orchestrating this central episode in his text in
this way Pynchon deliberately undermines Wicks's status as the putative
narrator of proceedings. And, of course, Wicks is also being narrated, as
you note.

It's not crucial, but as I've said all along I think it's just as easy to
leave Wicks to one side when reading many of the episodes in the novel, and
take Stig's tale or Eliza's tale or those tales told by Mason and Dixon, or
those episodes were Wicks wasn't present such as the visit to Mt Vernon, at
face value, first off anyway, and then factor in Wicks/narrative aspect
later or as needed. Not that it needs to affect the way we read the stories
anyway, but I think it's just a question of whether Stig and Eliza and Chas
and Jere are narrator's within Wicks's narration, or alongside it. Either
way, I'd argue that there is more than one narrator/narrative agency.

best